Can a Member lose his or her peerage or membership?
A peerage is created by Letters Patent and it can only be removed by an Act of Parliament. The last time a peerage was removed was in 1917 under the Titles Deprivation Act, which provided for peers who fought against the Crown in the First World War – and thus were guilty of treason – to be deprived of their titles. Members convicted of a crime and sent to jail cannot sit due to their imprisonment but do not lose their peerage or membership (ie sitting and voting resumes when the custodial sentence finishes). A Member who is declared bankrupt under the Insolvency Act 1986 is disqualified from sitting and voting in the House during the period of bankruptcy. Once the period is over he or she can resume sitting and voting.
